Young population linked to lower reserves
Comparing Population aged 15-24 years (thousands), per capita with Reserve tranche position, SDR, per capita across 189 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.58
- Holding size constant
- -0.43
- Countries compared
- 189
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The relationship between a country's young population and its reserve tranche position might be influenced by factors such as economic stability and investment in human capital. A careful reader should consider the potential impact of education and employment opportunities on both indicators. A likely confounder could be the overall economic development stage of a country.
Why this is not proof of anything
This is a correlation across countries, not an experiment. It cannot show that either indicator causes the other, and both may simply follow a third thing. This correlation could mislead by implying a direct relationship between demographics and financial reserves, when in fact it may be driven by underlying economic factors.
The second figure above repeats the measurement with national population and income held constant. It is the more conservative number: a relationship that largely disappears there was mostly telling you that larger, richer countries have more of most things.
How this was measured
Both indicators were ranked across every country reporting each, and the two rankings compared — ranks rather than raw values, because a handful of very large countries can otherwise manufacture a relationship on their own. The calculation is arithmetic over figures already published on this site; the commentary above is drafted from the two indicator names and the resulting coefficients.